Hounslow Council has launched a new incentive for landlords to help local families at risk of becoming homeless.
The scheme includes offering up to £1,000 for landlords to house tenants needing a home, and grants of up to £15,000 for improvement works.
The government's total weekly benefit cap has begun rolling out across Britain.
Single parents and couples aged 16 to 24 will now only be able to claim a total of £500 a week in benefits, whilst people living alone will be capped at £350.
The “national roll-out” of Universal Credit will now only see the new system running at a handful of JobCentres across the UK this year, ministers confirmed.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, insisted that Universal Credit remains on track and will fully operational by 2017. A more gradual timetable means the reform will be delivered “safely,” he said.
Nearly 100,000 private tenants are now more than two months behind on their rent, according to figures published today.
During the second quarter of 2013, the number of tenants in severe arrears rose by 3.3% (to 98,000) on the previous three months, LSL Property Services reports.
The number of people seen rough sleeping in London has risen by 13% in the past year, a new report has revealed.
The ‘Street to Home 2012/13’ report shows that 6,437 people were seen sleeping on the streets of the capital between 1 April, 2012 and 31 March, 2013 - compared to 5,678 the previous year.
Landlords have expressed their deep concern over the impact of Universal Credit on the private rented sector.
Most (70%) of those who let to tenants currently in receipt of Local Housing Allowance said they are worried about the welfare changes.
Tenants are continuing to vote with their feet in the most expensive parts of London, by moving out to cheaper areas.
Agents are reporting the ongoing exodus, amid an over-supply of properties, with landlords having to freeze or cut rents.
A mechanism to recover rent arrears is to be incorporated into the new Universal Credit system, by docking the benefit.
Landlords who are owed rent by tenants receiving benefit will be able to request direct payment once a certain level of rent arrears – as yet undecided – is reached.
Minister for Welfare Reform Lord Freud says the Universal Credit demonstration projects have helped to shape new thinking around direct payments to tenants.
The demonstration projects were set up to learn how we could best support landlords and tenants with the introduction of direct payment. That learning is regularly shared and I’m sure all members of the social housing community have views on what it is teaching us. Because the roll out of Universal Credit is progressive we have time to get this right.
The majority of the British public believe the government should be tackling the root causes of the country’s high housing benefit bill.
A survey by the Fabian Society asked people if they agreed with the statement: "The size of the housing benefit bill has risen because there are more people claiming due to unemployment, low wages and rents rising quickly. Instead of planning further cuts, the government should be focusing on solving these underlying problems. The government should do this even if it took a long time and meant tax rises or spending cuts elsewhere."